Authentic Mexican Adobo Sauce is easy to make and allows you to create any flavor you want. In most supermarkets and grocery stores there are ethnic isles that have many different types of dried chili peppers. They range from hot to mild. You can choose any combination to create the heat you need for your guests.

To make an adobo sauce is pretty straight forward. Chop up about 10 - 12 dried peppers (we like using a lot for a stronger flavor) and heat them up in a cast iron pan with a tablespoon of vegetable oil for a few minutes. We removed the seeds and stems. You will begin to smell the strong flavor soon.

Plunge the hot oily peppers into a small bowl of water (~ 2 cups) and wait a few minutes for the flavor to penetrate the water. Use another plate to keep the peppers under water if necessary.

In a blender add the peppers and water, then pulse. Then add the vinegar, brown sugar (you could use white but the molases adds flavor), cumin, salt and some hot sauce. Blend until smooth. Taste and see if it needs any more sugar. You will find that the taste will not be too sweet, but more vinegar should come through. Flavor really begins to develop over the slow cooking process.

Slow Cooked Beef Chuck in Adobo Sauce

To make the dish cut up the chuck (or bottom round) into cubes and brown them in some oil or bacon fat. Then add the onions, sautee and then add the tomato paste. Stir until combined, then add the adobo sauce. If you want you can add other ingredients. We added fresh red peppers to the dish at this point.

Put the lid on to the dutch oven and let cook in the oven at ~ 300 degrees F for about 2 hours.

We actually made this dish on an outdoor charcol grill so we checked the dutch oven every 15 - 20 minutes to make sure nothing was burning. When using a charcol grill make sure not to have too many coals making it too hot, you want to slow cook the dish.